Antithesis
by palomino333
Summary: "Whether or not that raving coot was right, I don't give a damn. We're a package deal, Yu." Slight extension to Ending E of Ghost Head. In the wake of his murder of Midoshima Takashi, Bates is confronted one last time by Yu.


While several of the endings to Ghost Head are quite ambiguous, I find the E Ending to be even more so in a dark fashion due to its sheer duality. Bates has eliminated Midoshima Takashi, who he greatly despises, so it is a cathartic moment for him, whereas Takashi is Yu's father, and it is tragic in that regard. I just find that divide in mentalities more interesting than an after-the-fact survival story that endings A, B, and C provide.

* * *

"It's all your fault…All of it." Bates could hardly contain his rage as he stood, fists clenched, before this pitiful coward. Midoshima's one hand was cuffed to a pipe jutting out of the floor beside him, his legs, having tired out from sitting too long, causing him to sit unceremoniously on the floor. Had Yu been the one to see him, she would have thrown her arms around her father without another thought, but Bates wasn't Yu. He could see right through Midoshima's masquerade of a loving father and talented scientist. Of course, it helped that his relationship (if it could be called that) with Midoshima was rather unsavory, to put it in polite terms.

"My fault? Don't be foolish!" Midoshima's defiant tone was grating on Bates' last nerve, "The fact you even exist is a mistake. You're cursed!" Bates' eye twitched as Yu's sensibilities rose in him, her oh so infuriatingly pure affection for her father begging to be released.

"Please, let me talk to him," her voice was quiet, yet dripping with pure anxiety. At least she knew her place. Considering that it was Bates who had fended off the undead and the red-masked man for her, she very well had to show respect.

His reply to her was firm. "No."

"Please, Bates," she persisted, "A few moments is all I want. I just need to tell him I'm all right."

He mentally shoved her back, and focused upon the current conversation at hand. "Cursed? And if I am?" Yu's begging turned to her father, although he couldn't hear her. She pleaded for him to stop provoking her alter ego, whose smirk widened into a rather unpleasant smile at her words. Now, if only Midoshima could dig himself deeper...

"Uh-huh, there is no pointing in you even existing. No point at all." Midoshima waved his arm for emphasis, the hatred for this being before him that wore his daughter's skin easy to hear in the shortness of his voice.

Yu's shrill squeaks in Bates' head caused him to waver for a few moments, the smile falling off his face. "He didn't mean it; he just wants me to be safe!" Bates bit down hard on his bottom jaw, his fist releasing. His fingers caught hold of the skirt's fabric, and twisted and turned in it. Concentrate. Had she been standing before him, Bates would have seized her by the shoulders, and shaken some sense into her. Yu wasn't a daughter to this mad scientist; no, she was a pawn, but she was too diluted by Midoshima's affection to see it. Bates knew the truth: the man feared him, despised him, yet he remained a part of Yu through and through. Such a lack of what he supposed could pass for love in the vaguest of terms opened the door for an analysis of who the true monster in this room really was. Instead, he replied, "You're forgetting something, Yu. I'm the one who's been carrying the deadly weapon around this hellhole. I can only be honest." That did nothing to subdue her. Good, she had risen to his bait, and was effectively distracted by stress.

Bates withdrew the knife from the inner pocket of Yu's jacket, and started forward. Midoshima, his eyes wild with fear, slid backwards across the floor to escape the blade, but to little avail, for his back touched the wall behind him. Bates shot the knife's blade cleanly into him, causing the scientist's head to drop with an exclamation of pain, his body limp. "FATHER!" Yu screamed as Bates yanked the knife out, scattering drops of blood over Midoshima's lab coat.

He nonchalantly wiped it off on the edge of her skirt as the girl continued to shriek and wail over her murdered "father." It served the old man right. "Why?" She hissed angrily at him, her hysteria still present, "Why did you do that to him?"

"You weren't paying attention," Bates' response was cold as he tilted his head to survey the corpse in insurance that he was truly gone, "Tate spelled it out plainly: this so-called curse was Midoshima's fault. He deserves this."

"But Uncle Hajime—"

Bates cut her off to tick the victims on his fingers. "Takano, Akiyo, Masaharu, Saido, and not to mention that Chinatsu brat," he paused to shrug, "I guess Fujika can count, even though I'd much rather hit her."

"That doesn't make it right!" Yu snapped, causing him to flinch and shut his one eye, "Look at him, Bates! Whatever he has done, he is still the closest thing I have had to a parent!"

He reopened his eye and gnashed his teeth. "To you, not me. You should've known that difference." The urge to cry, although not of his own, welled up in him, and he forced it back down.

"C-Can you just leave this room, please?"

Bates complied with her request, shutting the utility door behind him. However, he refused to let up on her. "He would have found some way to kill me, or at least subdue me for good, however that's supposed to be different," he waved his hand dismissively, "After all, Midoshima came dangerously close before."

"Maybe if you hadn't killed three of my classmates, that wouldn't have happened!" Yu retorted, her tone fierce.

Bates gave a lopsided grin as he leaned back against the door, rolling his head slightly to the side. "I can't believe you'd even think of blaming me for that." She said nothing, although he could still feel her fuming, the anger burning against his cheeks. It radiated as he barked, "If I hadn't been there to beat them off, you would've been in the hospital, or worse."

"You did more than 'beat them off,' Bates," she hissed, missing his innuendo, "That was murder, pure and simple, just as you did back there. Thanks to you that day, I wasted part of my life in a mental institution!" A force, spurned on by Yu's anger, smacked Bates' head backward against the door behind him, and he cried out in surprise. "So before you dare to even get up the gall to insult Father, check yourself first!"

Placing a hand to his head, Bates shook it out before replying snidely, "I'm not the one who resorted to violence in this conversation."

"No, but you began it with killing someone," she responded evenly, "And you wonder why he wanted to be rid of you."

Bates pushed himself off of the door. Placing one hand on his hip while adjusting Yu's sagging headband with the other, he shot back, "Oh of course, let's paint crazy Mr. Bates as the bad guy. He can't possibly have a say in how he lives."

"Now you weren't the one who was paying attention!" Yu pressed, "Father said it himself: there's no reason for you to exist!"

He let go of the headband to whip his arm through the air in a slicing motion. "Whether or not that raving coot was right, I don't give a damn. We're a package deal, Yu."

"And what exactly was I supposed to do, allow you to run around killing people with no rhyme or reason?"

"Quit grasping at straws," Bates admonished, "The only people I killed were those three pieces of shit, and Midoshima. I'm not a raving maniac, contrary to your belief."

"You just hand waived four killings," Yu countered, "I think that speaks for itself."

"Yet you can't blame me. Those three were attacking you, and he was intending to get rid of me. Some way you show gratitude."

"Gratitude? Do you have any idea what it's like, fearing that my friends, family, or simply anyone that looks at me in a odd way is in danger of becoming a potential victim of you?" She ranted, her voice quivering, "And when it finally came to a head, I couldn't even shield the person I loved the most from you."

Bates spun the smeared surface of the knife between his fingers before putting it away. When he replied to her, his voice had surprisingly gentled. "You have something to lose."

"Even if you had your own body, you wouldn't," Yu pointed out.

"Wrong," he replied firmly, starting past the bookshelf on the hall's right side, "I'd have the one thing I've always wanted."

"Which is?"

He tugged open the door that led out. "Autonomy."

Yu's disdain was plain to hear. "You just said yourself that we're one set entity. How could you possibly worry about autonomy?"

"Because you're the only thing I can say I have," Bates replied simply, searchingly glancing off to the left and right before taking off in the latter direction, "I wear your clothes, I live in your body, and I'm apparently a nuisance. Had life turned out differently for us, you'd be singing a different tune," he waved his hand, "I'm not fishing for pity, but the fact of the matter is that Dear Old Daddy only told you one side of the story. I'll admit I'm not the guy that you'd want running around on his own, but that's moot as of now."

"So what makes you so deserving of your own life?" Yu prodded, "Seeing as how you just derailed your own logic, I would say I'm not the one grasping at straws."

"I'm still here, aren't I?" Bates asked as he stepped over the threshold into the lab's small library, "Whether you like it or not, I'm alive as you are." He ran his hand over the volumes of books on the shelf closest to him, his hand stopping once between the red and blue book in which Yu's amulet was wedged. "Now, I think it's time you had a little talk with your old man." Picking it up, much to Yu's surprise, he placed it around his neck.

With a soft breath, she came back to herself, her hands releasing the thick strap of the talisman. Reaching into her jacket with a quivering hand, she pulled out the knife to drop it on the floor. Bates' dark chuckle sounded as it hit with a clang. Gripping the edge of her skirt, she looked down to see her father's blood smeared on it. Yu let go just as soon to bury her face in her hands at what her alter ego had done. She staggered backwards, her one hand shooting down to the door's handle behind her. Her eyes misted at the thought of looking upon her father's corpse with her own eyes, although she knew it had to be done. Remaining at that spot would also put her at risk, should the masked man return for her, as she had the feeling that he inevitably would.

Pushing on the handle, she turned to leave the room, her footfalls heavy on the floor of the hallway. She hugged herself as she continued past the bookshelf. There wouldn't even be enough time to properly mourn him. Her hand squeezed the handle on the door leading into the room where her father lay, partly out of dread, and out of anger for Bates. It was his fault that this had happened, however she also took the blame for being unable to stop him. It only furthered her disdain that he chose to say nothing to her this time; rather she could only feel his satisfaction at effectively killing his designated villain.

If anything, Yu found herself agreeing more so than before with Midoshima's intentions of eliminating Bates' existence from her concern, although it was more out of spite than much else. She wasn't sure why he had allowed her to reclaim control of her body after this had come to pass. Was Bates giving up? Or perhaps, maybe with Midoshima out of the way, he had thought he had won? Perhaps, maybe, he was fostering the soft spot he somehow had for her by allowing her to see Midoshima as herself? Whatever the case, it was an odd move on his part.

In the wake of the slam of the door, Dr. Midoshima remained slumped over, his wrist suspended above him. Yu's hand flew to her mouth to cover the sob that burst forth, and leaned against the bookshelf before Midoshima's body for support. Squeezing her eyes shut against her tears, she shook her head as Bates' self-satisfied chuckle sounded in her ears again. She couldn't even release Midoshima's wrist without the proper key in her possession. Yu murmured her apologies to her father's remains, her throat feeling too tight to raise her voice higher. The words that she managed to get out were turned into a blithering mess by her tears. She felt Bates' nudge to go, but chose to ignore it. He could learn to be patient. No longer would Midoshima's arms protectively wrap around her, and no longer would he provide comforts to her against the malicious Mr. Bates. His presence had hung over father and daughter like a shadow, one that refused to be kept away despite the efforts of the former.

The sound of the door beside her opening again jolted Yu. Spinning slightly around, she placed her hands against the shelf behind her. Fujika smirked at Yu's startled reaction as she entered the room, her dark hair obscuring her eyes from view. "I see you're still lost, little girl."

"Let me take care of her," Bates' demand was akin to a snarl. Yu shook her head, and Fujika took her motion to think that it was meant for her, as her smirk only grew larger.

It fell, however, when she saw Midoshima's corpse beside Yu. She gasped at the sight, the top half of her body jerking backward against the door. Her shock turned to outrage as she spun on Yu, her hair whipping with the movement.

Yu shook her head. "I-I—" Fujika flew at her in a rage, causing the young girl to throw up her arms in self-defense. Grasping them, Fujika began to shake her. Yu shook her head, whimpering, as the woman screamed at her, hurling accusations of murder and whatever nasty words she could think of at her. The back of the girl's head stung as she hit the shelf behind her, groaning in pain. Bates' vain attempts to force her to remove the amulet resulted merely in her wrists twisting in Fujika's grip.

"No," she feebly responded, "I won't." His rage subsided into desperation as Fujika smacked her off of the bookcase once more before letting go. Placing a hand to her head, Yu slid down, her knees knocking together wearily. Raising her eyes up, she saw Fujika reaching into her jacket pocket.

"If you aren't gonna do anything, I'll make you," Bates threatened. A moment later, Yu cried out as her body jerked to the side, her knees bending, and the palms of her hands hitting the floor in a runner's pose.

Fujika's hand dropped from her side to seize the back of Yu's collar, effectively yanking her over. "Where do you think you're going?" It was just like the schoolyard all over again, although the circumstances were radically altered. If she did make it out alive, she doubted that a life with her Aunt Yayoi and Chinatsu would even be possible, considering the horrific events of this night. And even if that was given to her, the fact would still remain that Bates had beaten her: Midoshima was dead, and he could gloat all he pleased, piteous creature that he was. Bates' desire for his own body would never be fulfilled, as would hers for having a normal life. His dream had never grown to start with because of her, and hers had been shattered to pieces on the floor by him.

"Yu!" Bates snapped, "Damn it, girl, you will listen to me!" He had her, but what he failed to realize was that it went both ways. The alternative was satisfactory, but its cost was distasteful, to say the very least. She would simply have to shirk the protection he gave her.

"No," she replied in that same subdued tone. Yu's hand flew to her forehead as she squealed in pain at the release of Bates' unbridled anger within her. Her forehead felt as if it was about to split from the sheer caliber of the ache he was producing. Tears, now of pain, streamed down her cheeks, her other hand feebly held out before her as Fujika pulled out the sidearm she carried, the weapon's silver sheen bright in the light above.

"You useless little bitch!" Bates screamed in her mind, his anger once again devolving into anguish. He shouted her name over and over, his voice strained and almost beseeching, but to no avail. She closed her eyes with a sigh, accepting her fate. Bates, however, was defiant to the end, his warmth coursing over her shoulder and across her waist and arms in an invisible, vain embrace against the bullet that was sure to come.

"Good riddance, you cursed girl," Fujika declared before pulling the trigger.


End file.
